Most people install water filter assemblies 10 shown in FIG. 1a to remove impurities, harmful chemical materials, and toxic metals from water as well as to give water a good taste and look. To clean/purify the water, water filter assemblies 10 may be used with kitchen sinks, refrigerators, beverage dispensing machines, and/or any filtration system like, for example, fish tanks.
Referring to FIG. 1b, as known in the art, the water filter assembly 10 may comprise a core/filter 20, a housing 30 configured to at least partially accommodate the core/filter 20, and a cap/cover/lid 40 configured to seal the core/filter 20 within the housing 30. The water filter assembly 10 may also comprise at least one end cap 45. The core/filter 20 may be used to remove impurities, chlorine, toxic metals and harmful chemical materials from drinking water. The core/filter 20 may be a carbon block made out of extruded carbon powder with a binding polymer. The core/filter 20 may, for example, comprise carbon, fiber, a combination of carbon and fiber and/or other material able to remove impurities and/or chemicals and/or harmful chemicals and/or metals and/or toxic metals from water. The carbon used for the core/filter 20 may be granular carbon. The housing 30 and/or cap/lid/cover 40 may, for example, comprise plastic and or metal.
Although the core/filter 20 is depicted as having a rounded bottom edge, it is known in the art that the other core/filters 21, 22 and 23, shown in FIGS. 1d-f, may have flat top edge and flat bottom edge.
According to the prior art, the end cap 45 may be glued or pressure fitted to the core/filter 20 as shown in FIGS. 1c and 1e and may be used to keep the core/filter 20 stationary within the filter assembly 10. According to the prior art, the water filter assembly 10 may also comprise another end cap 46 as shown in FIG. 1d. The end cap 46 may be also be glued or pressure fitted to the core/filter 20 as shown in FIG. 1d and may be used to keep the core/filter 20 stationary within the filter assembly 10.
Referring to FIGS. 1a-b, when the core/filter 20 is sealed within the housing 30 by the cap/lid/cover 40, the unfiltered water may, for example, enter the water filter assembly 10 through an opening 50 defined by the protrusion 65 and exit through the opening 60 defined by the protrusion 65 after passing though the core/filter 20 that removes the impurities and/or harmful chemical materials.
Because core/filter 20 is used to remove impurities, chlorine, toxic metals and harmful chemical materials from drinking water, the water filtration efficiency and the water pressure of the filter assembly 10 is reduced over time due to blockage of the porous surface of the core/filter 20 by the impurities absorbed from the water. Due to reduction in water filtration efficiency and the water pressure, the core/filter 20 has a limited life cycle and the water filter assembly 10 needs to be replaced on a regular basis. While the core/filter 20 may have a limited life cycle, the housing 30, the lid/cap/cover 40 and/or the end caps 45, 46 typically do not degrade and/or wear out and may be reused. To reduce waste, a need exists for a process and associated apparatus by which the core/filter 20 is replaced with a new core/filter and the housing 30, the lid/cap/cover 40 and/or the end caps 45, 46 are reused or replaced with the new core/filter.